Fibromyalgia continues to be difficult to diagnose and complicated to treat, so a research team has taken an overview of the latest evidence, reporting their findings in Clinical Anatomy:

The close relationship between fibromyalgia and other chronic disorders should alert healthcare professionals to explore for other conditions the individual may have in addition to fibromyalgia;

Fibromyalgia is considered a central chronic pain syndrome and is associated with widespread pain that fluctuates spontaneously;

People with fibromyalgia have a lifetime psychiatric comorbidity, which results in low health-related quality of life;

Fibromyalgia could share underlying pathophysiological links with some psychiatric disorders;

People with fibromyalgia have findings compatible with tissue injury pain, the pain mechanisms involving similar part of the nervous system.

“Fibromyalgia is a complex disorder and there are specific criteria that patients must meet for diagnosis, including scores on fibromyalgia questionnaires, commonalities of age, gender, menopause status, sleep disturbances, and mood symptoms,” the researchers explain. “The close relationship between fibromyalgia and other chronic disorders should alert the physician to explore for comorbid illnesses.

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